Ninja Kisses
by Roxius
Summary: Now a collection of short yuri stories featuring several couples for the series Senran Kagura! First chapter is Asuka X Homura, second chapter is Ikaruga X Katsuragi, third chapter is Yagyu X Hibari, fourth chapter is Hikage X Yomi, fifth and final chapter is Haruka X Mirai. Please read and review! Shoujo ai, yuri, lady love romance.
1. Homura X Asuka

"Here it is, my room. You're the first person outside of Hanzo Academy to be properly allowed to see it, you know."

Asuka felt a little pride in that, for the matter of the fact, even though she couldn't help but wonder what happened to those who were not given explicit permission.

She followed Homura inside and shut the door behind her. Homura removed her blades, the main six which she wielded with three in each hand, as well as the unopened seventh blade on her back, from the straps attached to her uniform and placed them inside a metal case on top of her clothing dresser. Asuka took the chance to look around, remaining perfectly still as her eyes darted in all directions and took in the whole room. A ninja had to be diligent at all times, even when in the apparent safety of their own dormitory, so it was imperative that one's personal bedroom was kept at a minimalist design, lest a spy or villainous intruder break in and discover personal background on the ninja or their family. Asuka believed in such a teaching, but she had to admit it ruined some of the earlier anticipation of getting to see her girlfriend's bedroom when it ended up looking so plain in reality. At the least there was a desk, a dresser, a closet, windows, and a bed. That was just about what anyone could have needed for an appropriate room. She couldn't complain.

Asuka looked back at Homura again just in time to see the other girl stripping off her shirt, revealing her luscious, heavy bosom underneath. Her large breasts were safely contained in what amounted to just a few tightly-wound straps.

"Aah!" Asuka gasped, her face burning and slapping her hands over her eyes, "H-Homura-chan, w-what are you d-doing...?"

Homura chuckled. "Sorry, I just wanted to change into something more comfortable; I'd been running through obstacle courses all day until you showed up, so my uniform was a little sweaty!"

"Right...right..." Asuka peeked through the spaces between her fingers.

"And anyway, back when we used to be enemies, didn't we always keep ripping each other's clothes off? And there was that one time we all shared a hot spring together! We were naked back then!"

Asuka turned her head away, still flushed. "Yeah...but back then...we weren't dating yet..."

Homura hastily threw on some more casual wear, a simple white t-shirt with the academy's emerald-colored insignia on front. "Come on, you're the last person who should be worrying about decency, and so am I! Now, you said you brought some of your grandfather's sushi rolls for lunch, right? I can smell them...and let me guess...you have them hidden inside your boobs?"

Asuka tugged her shirt forward so she could reach inside, producing several bento-sized boxes from the apparent hammer space existing between her cleavage.

"I was able to keep it warm!"

"Now that's the ticket! Bring it over here; I'm starving, and Yomi's all-bean sprout diet isn't going to cut it!"

Homura and Asuka's shoulders brushed against each other as they sat down on the bed. Asuka had calmed down from seeing Homura strip, although the sight of her girlfriend's body clung to her mind like soap bubbles. She had also somewhat lied about the origin of the sushi rolls; she had, under the strict tutelage of her grandfather Hanzo, made the sushi rolls herself, just to share between her and Homura. She desperately hoped that her girlfriend would like them.

Homura nibbled on the end of the sushi roll and mewled upon pulling her face back. "Mm, these taste like heaven wrapped in seaweed...your grandfather really outdid himself this time!"

Asuka giggled, quite pleased with herself. "I'm glad! I'll make sure to tell him!"

Homura smiled back. She already knew that Asuka made these sushi rolls; in fact, she had been secretly observing her cooking session the entire time.

The two girls continued to eat and chat about whatever came to mind, mostly topics concerning their schoolwork and their friends. But even when together in their personal moments, they had to be wary of what they let fly from their lips. A ninja's duty was to keep his mind sharp and his tongue even sharper; they kept everything truly important about themselves against their chests or only vaguely referenced. As much as Asuka wished to hear Homura call her by her true name, she knew that it would be dangerous. Not because she didn't trust Homura, but because information could be obtained in many different forms which included torture. Asuka loved being a ninja, but, in layman's terms, it could really suck, especially when you were dating someone.

Homura laid back on her bed, pushing the empty lunch box aside. "Ah man that was good...really good...thanks for the lunch, Asuka. You - your grandfather is really good at this stuff. I don't have to pay or anything, do I? I mean, sushi like that, it almost makes me feel suspicious there's no bill attached."

"Of course you don't have to pay, Homura-chan!" Asuka laughed.

She splayed herself beside Homura on the bed, and their eyes locked for a few moments, the two of them simply staring at each other and saying nothing. Homura grinned. Asuka returned the smile. Homura reached out and her fingers slid through the spaces of Asuka's own hand, perfectly entwining them. Her smile grew even bigger, and Asuka flushed, hotter than the warmth emitting from Homura's clasped grip. Even when she swallowed, her throat felt like it was scorched. She eyed Homura's soft-looking lips with some emotion caught between want and apprehension. She'd never kissed anyone before; Homura seemed willing to appreciate Asuka's personal space and wait for her to come around. But still, Asuka hated to make her wait. She didn't want to wait much longer either. Homura was the person who had showed her a whole new side of this unforgiving ninja world they both inhabited, and even though they were supposed to fight on opposing sides, Asuka still knew full well that Homura was one of the kindest, sweetest people she had ever met outside of her own friends.

She moved in a little closer.

"Homura-chan..."

"Asuka..."

The room around them suddenly seemed to erupt with activity. A ceiling tile came loose, and Yomi and Hikage, two of Homura's friends, dropped to the floor. Haruka walked out of Homura's closet with a wave of her hand, and Mirai flew into the room through the window via a strong gust and her umbrella. The four ninja girls quickly gathered around the bed just as Homura's and Asuka's lips connected in an innocent, young kiss. However, just as quick as they had embraced each other in their gentle love, they broke apart to address the voyeurs openly watching them.

"You guys..." Homura's cheeks burned so bright she could have gotten a tan, "Oh, you've got to be kidding me..."

"Eep!" Asuka hid her face, a hapless attempt to soothe her furious humiliation.

"Wait! Wait wait wait! Kiss again! I didn't get to take a picture the first time!" Yomi complained, holding up her camera.

"I want to see too." Hikage remarked listlessly.

"Oh, Homura dear, please don't mind us one bit! We're just, ah, onlookers and we want to properly cheer on your absolutely adorable relationship with miss Asuka here! So you may continue with what you were doing...if you don't mind?" Haruka smiled through her teeth.

"No! No!" Mirai, the youngest member of the circle, stamped her feet and flung her arms up in defiance, "You can't really be with this girl, Homura-senpai! I mean...I mean...i-it's not like I like you or anything, but..."

Homura climbed off of her bed. The other girls stepped back; it was like a sudden, violent heat flash, being at the brunt end of the rage and fury that Homura was radiating from her body at that moment. Not even Asuka could have prepared for this sort of reaction. Homura was trembling from head to toe as her biting glare made connection with the four. Her dark-red aura was gushing in streams from the pores of her body.

"You guys...you may be my best friends, but...I'm not letting you get away with this, ruining my date!"

Asuka sat back and watched, silently, as Homura literally chased her friends around the bedroom for nearly an hour. The entire time, all the young woman could think about was how soft and sweet her girlfriend's lips had been when she finally kissed them.


	2. Ikaruga X Katsuragi

"BOOBIES!"

Katsuragi unleashed a maniacal, whooping laugh as she tackled her friend Hibari from behind, grabbing hold of the pinkette's bouncing breasts. They'd just stepped out of the showers together, and with so much fresh, wet, naked tit flesh begging to be fondled, there was absolutely no way Katsuragi could have controlled herself. It was like setting a lion loose in a pen full of sheep. With another haughty cackle, the young woman gave her friend's mammaries a hard squeeze. She slipped her fingers in and out of the girl's cleavage, shaking her breasts up and down, caressing them in their pillowy texture.

Hibari squealed, Yagyuuu fumed, and Asuka gasped, but none of them really took it seriously. They all knew that Katsuragi meant no harm, that it was just part of her 'eccentric' personality, and they loved her all the more for it. However, a certain class president in the room was a little bit more of a stickler about adhering to the rules, or at least that was the impression she meant to give as she reached out and pinched Katsuragi's ear.

"Katsuragi, you need to learn to keep your hands to yourself!" Ikaruga berated the blonde. She dug her nails into the ear.

Katsuragi shrieked and released her grip on Hibari's bosom. "H-Hey, c'mon, Ikaruga, I was just having a little fun..." she moaned, rubbing her ear, which had already flushed bright-red, "You don't have to be so mean about it!"

"You can't go around touching anyone whenever you want! It's against school rules, not to mention society's rules in general!"

"Yeah, yeah...I know..."

Ikaruga huffed. "If you really did know, you wouldn't do it at all."

Yagyuuu handed Hibari the towel she'd dropped in the initial molestation. Asuka approached Ikaruga and Katsuragi with a hint of caution, hoping to try and defuse the building tension between her two friends. The two third-year students were staring each other down, their glares harsh and unyielding, particularly Ikaruga's. Katsuragi's expression eventually started to soften. She'd never been one to enjoy arguing with her friends. Before Asuka could say anything, Katsuragi already put her hands on her hips and gave a firm nod.

"Alright, I got you, I'm sorry. Okay, Ikaruga?" Katsuragi put on a charming little smile.

Ikaruga could barely hold back the blush creeping on her cheeks. "Y-Yes, that's good of you to apologize, but you should apologize to Hibari most of all, not me! I just want you to obey the rules like any good citizen, ninja or not. That's all I'm asking for."

Katsuragi looked back at Hibari. "I'm sorry, Hibari. I hope I didn't hurt you at all."

"N-No, it was okay," Hibari replied as Yagyuuu was busy putting her pigtails together, "You didn't do anything to upset me, Katsuragi."

Katsuragi winked, grinning. "Glad to hear it!"

Ikaruga turned and began walking away, gathering her clothes to change elsewhere. Katsuragi and Asuka watched her head for the door.

Asuka grabbed her bra and slipped it on over her large breasts. "Ikaruga's been acting a little harsh lately, hasn't she? Toward you at least, Katsuragi. Did you do something wrong? Did you grope her breasts too hard?"

"Hey, Ikaruga!" Katsuragi shouted, catching the other girl just as she had her hand on the door.

Ikaruga turned.

"How about you and I have a training session after we get dressed?"

Ikaruga frowned. "But we just took a bath together. We'd get dirty again if we did that."

"We're going to get dirty again anyway!"

A sigh from the class president. "Very well...if you insist..."

"It'll be good training! We'll get better at protecting ourselves if we learn how to defend against other ninja attacks!"

"I got it alright! You don't need to keep trying to convince me!"

* * *

><p>Katsuragi came at Ikaruga with the force of a ramming truck; when the black-haired woman leaped out of the way, the resulting impact of Katsuragi hitting the floor left a crater in the wood paneling. Katsuragi immediately took another swipe at her opponent. Ikaruga threw up her sword's sheathe in front of her face to block it. Katsuragi kicked again and again, lacking display of any signs of weakening. Each kick collided with the sheathe, sending harsh vibrations through Ikaruga's arms, making her muscles ache. Still, she held on. Sparks flew, but still, neither Ikaruga nor the sheathe resigned.<p>

Katsuragi caught on, and ducked down to kick at Ikaruga's legs, intending to knock her off-balance. She balanced herself on the ball of her hand as she swung. Ikaruga jumped, Katsuragi's leg sweeping harmlessly underneath her, and took her own swing at the girl while she was open. Katsuragi pushed and rolled herself out of the way. All Ikaruga's sword managed to slice was a few strands of golden-yellow hair.

Katsuragi stood up. "Phew! That was a close one!"

"How did you manage to avoid me in time?" Ikaruga asked, "I swung at you with all of my might!"

"No,you didn't, or else you wouldn't have missed me!" Katsuragi grinned.

Ikaruga blushed, but only just a little.

"C'mon, you're not through yet already, are you, Ikaruga?" Katsuragi got into a fighting stance.

Ikaruga raised her blade. "Yes, I'm still good to go."

Katsuragi thrust the toe of her boot into the floor and kicked hard enough, hurling several pieces of debris at Ikaruga's face, some makeshift shuriken. Ikaruga slashed the wooden projectiles into a pile of harmless splinters, but Katsuragi was already upon her with super-ninja speed. Blade and boot collided. Katsuragi pushed off of Ikaruga's sword, performed a back-flip through the air, and landed several feet away. They were once again staring each other down.

"I don't think we're going to be able to get anywhere if we keep fighting like this. We're too evenly matched." Ikaruga remarked, "What do you hope to get out of this training session?"

Katsuragi shook her head. "It's not for me."

"What?"

"If we fight for a while, it'll help you let loose and free up all your stress, right? You just need an outlet, and I can tell I'm part of the problem since you keep getting mad at me, so this way we're kicking down two birds with one stone!" Katsuragi snapped her fingers, as if she'd just figured out a complicated mathematical equation, with her usual cheeky grin. For some reason, it irked Ikaruga a little.

"I don't think that's the best idea, to be doing something like this. I think we're done here." Ikaruga started to put her sword back into its sheathe.

"Ikaruga, come on now~"

Katsuragi zoomed across the room, faster than Ikaruga could have even followed, and grabbed hard on her companion's generous 'wealth'. Ikaruga squeaked. With a smirk that could easily be called 'boyish', Katsuragi leaned in, closing her eyes, and planted a fast kiss on the other girl's lips.

"You can tell your girlfriend anything you want!"

Ikaruga narrowed her eyes. "So we're still dating, are we?"

"I'd like to assume so!" Katsuragi giggled, but then she got serious, "But seriously, what's going on with you? I keep asking you what your deal is, but you refused to tell me. That's why I wanted to do this training session; so you could let your anger loose on me, since maybe it'd finally be enough to cheer you up. You know I don't like seeing you frown." Katsuragi said, still shaking Ikaruga's plentiful breasts in her hands. Ikaruga gently pat Katsuragi's mitts away from her cleavage.

Ikaruga started to tremble, her mouth on the verge of spewing out some really mean things, but she knew that she was better than that. She was a ninja and a class president, she needed to be able to properly control her emotions. She wanted to tell her girlfriend how she really felt, even though it could seem cruel, but she only had to say it because she wanted to ensure their relationship could last. In truth, she really did love this laid-back pervert in the big golden boots. She took Katsuragi's hands into her own, and looked her straight in the eye. No need to mince words.

"I'm going to give you one more chance. I didn't say it before, but I can't keep it to myself anymore. I don't want you groping other women anymore, not in front of me or on your own. It's an insult to our relationship."

Katsuragi gulped. "O-Oh yeah...yeah...I had thought...I had thought you didn't mind, since you never said anything..."

"You should have known."

"...Yeah, I should have..."

"Are you sorry?"

"Of course I am!" Katsuragi cried, "But...but I have no idea how I can even make it up to you, I mean...I'm so sorry! I can't help myself! I just love the oppai so much! I'm no good at controlling it!"

Ikaruga coughed, the temperature in her cheeks steadily rising, her lips pert. "W-Well, if you ever want to grope, then you don't need to go after Asuka or Hibari or Yagyuu; just use me. I'll gladly be your victim, er, your target." Ikaruga's face glowed brighter than the gleam of a recently-cleaned shuriken, "I...I like it when you touch me that way...but I was too embarrassed to tell you..."

"I guess we were both wrong, eh? Heh heh!"

Ikaruga grabbed Katsuragi by her tie and pulled her in a passionate kiss.

"No, just you." Ikaruga whispered.

"Oh..."

"And I'll put you on the receiving end of my blade if you do that again, especially touching Hibari; you don't know how many times I had to get Yagyuu to calm down about you groping her girlfriend. You're lucky I love you so much."

"I understand my position, captain! No more random groping on other girls!" Katsuragi saluted. Ikaruga kissed her again.

"I'm glad to hear it." Ikaruga kissed her again and again. She had been missing this for a while now; she had been rightfully upset with her girlfriend's actions, and denied her sexually as part of the unspoken punishment beforehand. Ikaruga had thought it would make Katsuragi finally crack and take responsibility for her wrong-doings, but it seemed it was Ikaruga herself who had the most trouble holding back.

"I'm a member of the student committee, I really shouldn't be doing something like this on school grounds..." Ikaruga noted, even though her voice did not reflect much concern at all.

"You're not gonna stop though, are you?"

"I don't think I can at this point."

"Sweet!"

Ikaruga slipped her hands underneath the blonde's open shirt She clenched Katsuragi's breasts with a fearsome grip, squeezing tight enough to elicit a yelp from the other girl.

"This is another punishment for you and your rampant molesting."

"Gah! Ggh...umm...M-Miss Class President, that's a little...your nails are...eep!"

Ikaruga laughed and kissed her again.

* * *

><p>"Well that was odd." Katsuragi murmured, hunched over with her skirt undone and sweat clinging to her face. She had really worn herself after those two training sessions, although for completely different reasons. She had even reverted to her school uniform again, dispelling her ninja outfit once it had been stripped too much. Ikaruga handed her a towel.<p>

"I was holding it in for a while, to be honest," Ikaruga admitted with only mild blushing. Now that the deed had been done, there was less shame in admitting it aloud, for some reason.

"So was I...but you're still the only girl who I've ever done anything beyond breast-groping with, so don't worry about that..."

"I wasn't worried. You didn't need to reassure me of that, because I'm sure if that happened, I would already know and you would be out of a girlfriend."

Katsuragi nodded.

"I never forgot about our relationship, I wasn't sure how to act either. I messed up."

Ikaruga sat down beside her. She had changed back into her school uniform as well, but it was a little drenched. The air around them felt humid, almost too warm to even breathe comfortably.

"I'll still give you a chance to make it up."

"You mean I didn't already? After all of that? You were certainly enjoying it-"

Ikaruga coughed. Katsuragi snapped her trap shut; it was important to listen when the class president was talking.

"I'm going to go and visit the poor district tonight, since I promised Yomi. I want you to come along...I'd like you to come along. If that's alright with you?"

Katsuragi couldn't help but sprout the biggest grin she could muster. It had been quite a while since the two of them had been on a date.

"I'm definitely game! ...And I'll make sure to greet your friend by shaking her hand, not her breasts!"

Ikaruga laughed. She wasn't really going to cut Katsuragi down, she could never do that, but she would certainly keep a close eye on her. Yomi's knockers were known to be quite tempting.


	3. Yagyu X Hibari

"Yagyu-chan~"

A pair of arms slipped around Yagyu's front, embracing her. The silver-haired young woman sighed and placed down her pencil, having been working in the middle of a homework assignment when she'd been interrupted by her girlfriend. Yagyu closed her eyes as she felt a pair of soft, supple lips press against the nape of her neck. The teeth gently nipped at her tender skin. Yagyu shivered; she loved the feeling so much, it made an intense, sensual heat boil up inside of her like nothing else, but right now really wasn't the best time for this activity. It was a school night.

"Yagyu-chan, don't you want to play with me?" the voice purred. Her girlfriend's voice, Hibari's.

Yagyu held back a moan. The hands slid downward, grasping hold of Yagyu's large breasts. The fingers sank slightly into the flesh through her pajamas, squeezing firmly but gently, so there was no pain. It was a masterful groping technique. Hibari's hands shifted up and down, up and down fluidly in motion, and Yagyu trembled even more violently than before. She couldn't take it anymore. If she let Hibari go any further now, there would be no going back for either of them. Hibari's skillful hands, and her teeth, and her tongue, it was like it was crawling through Yagyu's very mind, plucking at her brain and driving her senseless-

"Hibari, s-stop...!"

Yagyu grabbed Hibari's arms by the wrists and pulled them off of her breasts. She turned her head to speak to the other ninja girl directly, but she was caught off-guard as Hibari ensnared her mouth with her own, and a tongue slipped inside. Yagyu's single eye bulged wide in shock and arousal. The two of them kissed passionately in fervor for a few seconds, exchanging fluids, before Yagyu regained her composure again and forced Hibari away. Yagyu caught notice of foreign substances in the stench of Hibari's breath and in the taste of her spit. She was still not fully versed on the texts about a ninja's drugs and poisons, not as much as she should have been, but Yagyu knew that something was terribly off. Hibari was acting completely out of character.

"Hibar, stop it! What are you doing? You've never done anything like this before!"

Hibari only laughed, her head teetering from side to side and a scarlet-colored glaze on her cheeks. She tried to take another kiss from her beloved, but Yagyu, as much as her carnal desires wished otherwise, could not accept it. She evaded the kiss and embraced the girl to hold her still. Hibari returned the hug, but only because she was grasping at Yagyu's back, thinking she could dare tear off the white-haired girl's pajamas with sheer force. Yagyu blushed; her breasts were touching Hibari's, and they were rubbing against each other, causing a 'friction' that only made Yagyu's mind sink deeper.

"My, my, you've been fighting her quite well, Yagyu. I'm surprised, and a little disappointed, to see that you would deny your own lover so much! What in the world do you think you're doing, you little fool?"

Yagyu gasped. Haruka, Hibari's friend from Hebijo Academy, was standing in their bedroom, her back against the wall. A cold bead of sweat ran down the back of Yagyu's neck, over Hibari's bite-marks; since when did Haruka slip in here? Had she been hiding in the room all along? Yagyu couldn't believe she'd never noticed her presence, but then again, it had been very hard to pay attention to anything else for the past few minutes. Haruka was smiling back at them with her usual sneer, a know-it-all, condescending kind of smile. Yagyu knew that Haruka was supposedly one of Hibari's close friends outside of their group, but still...a hundred and fifty years could pass, and not once would Yagyu ever consider trusting the over-developed evil ninja, not ever.

"Haruka, did you do this?" Yagyu asked, trying hard to keep herself calm as both her rage boiled and Hibari's hands started touching her lower again.

"Well, I suppose I can take the blame for that, yes,"

"You..." Yagyu started to reach for the pen on her desk, it would make a suitable throwing weapon, "Are you looking to take Hibari away from us again...?"

"No. She asked me to do this for her." Haruka stated matter-of-factly.

Yagyu stopped. "...What?"

"You two have been dating for some time, a good few months, but it is almost like you two never went beyond the stage; even when you two are alone in a room together, you would sooner spend time talking or holding hands than going to the next stage. You two have kissed many times, but beyond what I would consider 'light foreplay', you two have generally stayed in the same spot. It seems like you are afraid for either yourself or Hibari, but this is no longer the age of chivalry and abstinence. I am very disappointed, Yagyu. Hibari should be treated with luscious, heaving mounds of love and affection!"

"...Did you just basically admit to having been spying on us? And now you're using Hibari as some kind of puppet to make her sleep with me? Are you asking me to kill you?"

Haruka ignored Yagyu's rather vital questions and continued speaking, her tone becoming grave. "I was actually confronted by Hibari herself to set this up, I will have you know."

Hibari had already stopped moving in Yagyu's arms. Her face was half-buried into her girlfriend's shoulder, and a gentle snoring sound indicated she had fallen asleep. Yagyu snarled, "You're lying!"

"She really wants to be more intimate with you, but she's so precious, she's too nervous to do it on her own without any help," Haruka said, "So she got me to aid her with a little bit of...dutch courage, I suppose you can call it."

"Why would Hibari ask you for help concerning me, her own girlfriend? And why should I believe you?"

Haruka smiled. "Because Hibari is someone I care deeply about, and while you may think I'm manipulative and sadistic, which isn't altogether untrue, I do still care about and try to help my friends whenever I can. Hibari wants to be able to have a proper relationship with you, Yagyu. She loves you very much."

"Y-You know nothing about what makes a proper relationship...!"

"Fine, then she just wants to be able to do those dirty things with you. But nonetheless! An innocent flower like her willing to indulge in the pleasures of the flesh," Haruka panted, "That's actually a little hot, don't you think...?"

Yagyu flustered, shouting, "Will you please just leave us now?" she usually did not get this riled up on anything, always keeping at a minimum of emotional display for the sake of her ninja way, except when it came to protecting Hibari.

"Hmph. You shouldn't hold back from showing Hibari how much you love her. I respect her wishes to be with you, but if you don't shape up soon, I just might have to steal her away from you one day, Yagyu."

"Leave!"

Haruka reached into her cleavage and removed a small vial. She tossed it to Yagyu, who caught it as if it were her natural reflex.

"It's an antidote; what Hibari took was not poisonous, but giving her this will return her to normal much faster, and she'll wake back up. You can trust me on this one, because like I told you, I take care of my friends."

"...Thank you."

"No problem, deary~ make sure to give Hibari a big wet smooch for me when she wakes up~" With a chuckle and a wink, Haruka slipped back into the shadows, and without any further indication, her presence completely disappeared from the room. Yagyu sighed. That woman was wackier than a bag full of ducks, but if anything, she was thankful that they both cared about the beautiful pinkette currently snoozing on Yagyu's lap.

* * *

><p>Hibari woke up not a few minutes later after having ingested the antidote. Yagyu did not once move from her spot during that time. She stayed watch over her beloved without any reconsideration. She gently stroked the other girl's cheek, brushing away strands of hair hanging loose.<p>

"Ah...Y...Yagyu...?"

"Good morning, Hibari."

"What...happened..."

"Nothing happened, Hibari."

"Nothing...?"

"Nothing at all."

Hibari set up, pouting with her cheeks puffed out. Yagyu thought it was so cute when Hibari made that face.

"Then it didn't work, huh?"

"You mean your plan to have Haruka intoxicate you with special libido-enhancing drugs so you would be more comfortable in trying to get intimate with me?"

"Eep! You knew after all? The whole thing? Yagyu, you're amazing!"

"Just a lucky guess..." Yagyu didn't think she needed to mention Haruka's little visit.

"So...if you know my plan and wanting intimacy, then Yagyu...are you mad at me? Was it wrong of me to do something lie this?" Hibari asked, sniffling.

Yagyu hugged her. She wrapped her arms around Hibari's head and smothered the girl's face into her welcoming bosom. Hibari gasped, but she quickly returned the hug by embracing Yagyu's waist and holding her desperately. Hibari started to sniffle again, trying to keep herself from tearing up, but it was so difficult not to when she waited on what words would come out of her girlfriend's mouth next. She dug her fingers hard into Yagyu's back; she didn't want the girl she admired and loved so much to be angry with her. It was an unbearable thought.

"Hibari, you don't need to try and rush things," Yagyu whispered.

Hibari looked up. "No?"

"Nope." Yagyu shook her head, "I...I appreciate you want to do that kind of stuff with a low-brow person like me, but if you're not comfortable to instigate such things with a sound mind, then it probably is best not to instigate them at all until you feel truly ready. That's what I've chosen to do too. So, Hibari, please don't do anything like that again, and when it comes time for us to finally join as one, I know we will both be prepared, in our hearts and our minds."

Hibari planted a tiny, sweet kiss on the edge of Yagyu's bottom lip.

"Okay, Yagyu. I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize at all, Hibari."

The two girls sat there and cuddled for a while, doing nothing but talking quietly under their breaths, enjoying the sound of the silence and each other's voices.

Eventually they fell asleep while in their embrace, and for that time, the two girls, secretive ninjas destined to risk their lives on covert missions and fighting off the country's greatest enemies, seemed like nothing more than a pair of young, innocent teenagers in love.


	4. Hikage X Yomi

Hikage, a girl who lacked emotions, had scored herself a date with her fellow student and close friend, Yomi. With wet, round eyes and cheeks glowing pinker than sakura blossoms, the young blonde woman had proposed a going out together with the Hebijo classmate. Hikage, barely able to even muster up dull surprise, accepted the offer without any further consideration. Deep, deep down inside of her, there was likely a little something called 'happiness' that cried out with joy at that moment. Unfortunately, due to the hectic schedules of teenage evil ninjas, the two girls had to postpone their date again and again, for almost two whole weeks. During that time, Hikage thought up of several different ways she could properly express her feelings for Yomi in words when they went on her date. She didn't wish to beat around the bush; she really did like Yomi, and she wanted to ensure the girl understood that fully and completely. These were just a few such proposals Hikage had in mind:

"I want to kiss you."

"May I touch your breasts?"

"Would you like to sleep with me sometime?"

"Nothing would make me happier than to be able to rub my face deep inside your bosom right now."

"Whether we do it in a bed or in a bathroom stall, I don't care where, I just want to do it with you."

Hikage had thought all of those and more were adequate enough, but when she relayed her ingenious idea to her comrades, they immediately cut her off short before she could read another one off of her very long list. Hikage stared at them, asking what was wrong.

"H-Hikage, come on now...Yomi isn't going to like it if you say any of those things to her..." Homura was literally trembling, but it was because she could barely hold herself back from doubling over with laughter.

"You're going to get slapped, not kissed, you idiot!" Mirai shouted.

"Oh dear...Hikage, even I am shocked at how blunt you could be about your desires, and yet look at how I live..." Haruka remarked with some bemusement.

Hikage tilt her head. "Then what do you think I should do? I spent a week preparing all of these. I wrote out more than fifty pick-up lines already."

Mirai and Haruka immediately swiveled their heads in Homura's direction. Their smiles seemed to stretch and contort across their faces, until they appeared quite eerie, no attempt being made to even conceal their secret spite toward their friend. "Yes, Homura," Haruka exclaimed, "Please instruct our love-struck friend, would you? You know more about this than Mirai or I, don't you?"

"Err..." Homura cringed; yes, she and Asuka had been dating steady for a few months, but it was her very first relationship, and it certainly didn't mean she was qualified to be handing out love advice to just anyone on the street. In fact they hadn't gone beyond the first stage of kissing either.

However, someone like Hikage, whose lack of emotions would make romance incredibly difficult if not entirely impossible to properly experience, needed all of the help she could be handed right now. Whether or not she was actually feeling it, Hikage wanted to make Yomi hers, she wanted to be Yomi's, it was that intense desire to have an interpersonal connection with another person. Homura loved all of her friends, and she wouldn't be able to bring herself to turn away the other girl. Mirai and Haruka didn't need to keep staring with such fierce glares, though. She just needed a few seconds to think on the subject.

"Uh...well...you can't just ask someone to sleep with you, especially not a friend or someone you're actually attracted to..."

"Even if it's true, though?" Hikage asked.

"ESPECIALLY if it's true!" Mirai snapped back.

"That's a shame. I don't have emotions, so I figured this was the best I could do."

"I'm the only one who is shameless enough to try and do things like that, and look where it's got me now? The girl I love is with another woman! You must be more considerate of the other party's feelings...!" Haruka exclaimed, trying to sound profoundly hurt in having to admit the truth, although it may have been a part of her not-so-well-hidden fetishist side, hoping to be consoled or berated for her pitiful state so as to obtain sexual arousal.

Mirai would have made a remark about how Haruka still had her little 'harem' of masochistic slaves she kept in her underground lair, so there was no reason Haruka should have felt alone without Hibari. However, Mirai had a good hunch that she wasn't supposed to know about either that place or those people in the first place.

"Hikage, you have to be charming, suave, sweet to her; you need to make her feel like she's the only girl in the whole world who matters to you. Making her feel special and important is the most important thing; you gotta act like your true desires for her come second." Homura explained.

"True desires, eh?" Hikage rubbed her chin.

"Is that really how you look at Asuka too, Homura? You only pretend to not want her body first?" Mirai gave the older girl an extremely distasteful look, as if she were looking at at a pile of manure and sewage sitting inside a dirty toilet bowl, and Homura immediately shrunk back, face paling.

"N-No, I...I didn't mean it that way...honest...I was just saying, for Hikage..."

"Hikage, do you really want Yomi in the first place?" Haruka decided to ask while her two friends bickered on the sidelines. Homura was desperately pleading her case while the surprisingly unforgiving Mirai continued to needle her further with accusations.

"Hmm?"

"What makes you like her so much at all? Have you considered the reasons, besides how adorable she is and how lusciously round and bouncy her breasts are? You don't have any emotions, as you've said time and again, so there had to have been an aspect about her that transcended your emotional disconnection and actually made you feel something in your heart, right?"

Hikage thought about it: what was Yomi?

Yomi was undoubtedly someone important to her, as all of her friends were. Yomi was one of the sweetest, kindest, most forgiving girls Hikage knew. Yomi loved bean sprouts to the point of an unhealthy obsession, but she was always willing to share some too. Yomi was beautiful and intelligent, although a little gullible sometimes, almost to a fault. Yomi swung around a sword bigger than her own head as if it was nothing, her physical strength was incomparable for a girl her size and age. Yomi was someone who had pushed Hikage to open up about her emotions before any of the other girls tried. Yomi was the one who asked her out on a date. Yomi was the one whom Hikage wanted to express desires of unrepentant lust for. Yomi was the one that Hikage wanted to change herself for. Yomi was...Yomi was...

"I think I get it now."

Homura, Mirai and Haruka looked up at their friend, who had jumped to a stand with an expression that could almost be considered actual shock on her face.

"What?"

"I know what I'll tell her now. I'll make sure she understands how much I care about her."

"You...you do? But I didn't even finish-" Homura started to say, but Mirai gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

Haruka leaned in closely. "So what is it? I'm dying to know!"

"It would be best if I kept it to myself until the right time. I'm going now. I will be ready for my date with Yomi by tomorrow. Thank you all, for your help." Hikage flashed the briefest, thinnest of smiles, and with that, she disappeared in a flash. The other girls had no chance of following her. She was the fastest of them all, except for Homura with her seventh sword unleashed, and they certainly weren't about to do that now.

"She left already, and we didn't even give her all that much helpful advice."

"She said she has something in mind, and I suppose it's only right we put our trust into it. Hikage may be emotionless, but she's not stupid. I'm sure she was even joking about those blunt pick-up lines too...I hope...and by the end of it all, Yomi will be her girlfriend!"

"Are we going to spy on their date?" Mirai asked, sounding more hopeful about it than she properly should have, as she desperately wanted to be there when Hikage finally confessed to Yomi. She would even bring a camera.

Homura and Haruka snickered to themselves.

"Of course we will! Why be ninja if we can't spy on our friends' dates?"

* * *

><p>The next day, Hikage and Yomi went on their date, in the shopping district of the little city. While it appeared from an outsider's perspective like they were busy picking out groceries, at least Yomi was trying to decipher which bean sprouts were the tastiest and the cheapest, Hikage was already formulating her 'romantic verbal onslaught' in her mind. She was not going to let Yomi slip away from her; Hikage would have probably declared this an S-rank mission, though, as she had never felt so strangely unsettled about her plans on 'taking care' of her opponent before. Cutting down nameless rival ninja or even combating Katsuragi from Hanzo Academy hadn't made her heart waver like this.<p>

Hikage swallowed her spit rather loudly. Was she...was she feeling nervousness right now?

"Hikage!"

The green-haired girl snapped out of her trance to realize that her date was talking to her.

"You okay?" Yomi asked, eyebrows knitting together with fervent concern.

Hikage nodded. "I'm fine. What is it?"

"You wouldn't believe what I just found!" Yomi presented a transparent plastic bag filled to the bursting point with tiny, dry sprouts, "Bean sprouts! 200 of them! For only five bucks! They're only a few days from expiring so they cut the price down even further! It's like a Christmas Miracle, except in the summer! We can have a bean sprout hot-pot tonight! Doesn't that sound delicious?"

Hikage nodded mechanically; bean sprouts were certainly far from her mind at the moment. "Yes. Sure."

"I'm sure we can afford a daikon or two to go along with it. And maybe some carrots and potatoes...what do you think?"

Hikage shrugged, and when Yomi turned, she tried to reach for her friend's hand, but Yomi had already put enough distance between them that it was impossible. Hikage sighed. She needed to just come out and say what she wanted to say. For someone who supposedly lost her emotions long ago, she was sure having a difficult time speaking her mind, she noticed. The words were there, dangling like fruit ready to be picked from Hikage's tongue, but no matter how hard she tugged, no matter how hard she forced, they refused to budge even an inch, much less break off from the branches.

"Yomi,"

"Hmm?"

"Would you..."

"Would I what? Buy another pack of bean sprouts? Oh, Hikage, don't tempt me so much!" Yomi giggled.

"Would you let me rub your tits?"

'She didn't take our advice at all!' Homura, Mirai and Haruka all blanched as they watched on from their hiding spots throughout the marketplace.

Yomi, however, was burning hot enough to sustain an entire solar system.

"Oh my...Hikage...you..."

Hikage nodded. "I want to grip your breasts tight in my hands while I kiss you deeply. I want to do those sort of things with you. Is that wrong, Yomi? I am very conflicted about this. I found myself hesitating to act in telling you these things, even though I was sure I had no reason to hold back. Is there something wrong with me?"

Yomi brought a hand to her chest, and with a tiny, happy smile, she asked, her breath caught in her throat, "You...you actually feel something for me, Hikage?"

"I think I do, or I know I do, actually."

"Hikage, I've tried so hard to help you open up and express your true emotions," Yomi dabbed at her eyes with a spare glove, as if it were a handkerchief, "But this...even though your face hasn't changed in the slightest, I can hear the emotion in your voice and with your words. Oh, Hikage, I'm so happy! I'm so happy, I could...I could..."

"Kiss me?"

Yomi nodded, and she proceeded to lean in, closing the gap between her and Hikage little by little, Hikage shutting her eyes in heated anticipation, Yomi's heart throbbing so joyously inside her chest, all the while the three other friends looked on with dropped jaws.

"I guess she didn't need us after all," Mirai sniffed, feeling ignored.

"Hikage and Yomi must have had more going on between the two of them than what we even knew about." Haruka giggled.

Homura put her hands behind her head. "Well, it looks like that's been settled. Now we have nothing left to worry about except graduating! Right? Heh heh...heh...why are you two staring at me like that?"

Mirai and Haruka started to cackle at the same time.

"There's still the matter..."

"...Of getting you to finally go to the next step with your beloved Asuka, Homura."

Homura took a moment to think about what they'd said, and her cheeks set ablaze upon realization. She quickly turned and started to run.

"That's none of your business! I...I'll do that when I want to! Get off my back!" Homura cried. She needed to hurry and confront Asuka, to make sure that Haruka had not slipped the Hanzo girl any aphrodisiacs or the sort, to trick her into expressing sudden desires for the flesh. That was certainly the reason Homura told herself for why she was visiting her girlfriend right now, at least.

Haruka smirked. "I certainly do enjoy pulling her strings."


	5. Haruka X Mirai and Epilogue

Poor little Mirai sat at the edge of the training pond, hunched over and her face shadowed by her large, black umbrella underneath a hot, blazing sun. She did not care how foolish she might have seemed to the passing Hebijo students, with her umbrella cloaking her as if she were a ghoul terrified of sunlight, but she would much rather have them notice that instead of the streams of lukewarm tears that were tumbling down her snowy cheeks. She trembled, sniffling. The ground was littered with dozens of fallen leaves of scarlet-red, mustard-yellow, emerald-green, as if the Gods' children had made fun with finger-painting all across the Earth's soil. Mirai lifted one of those leaves and crumbled it cruelly in her tiny hand. She stretched her arm out in front of her, over the pond, and opened her fist to let the broken pieces of the leaf to fall into the water.

How she wished she could have more properly unleashed her frustration with a few dozen rounds of gunfire in the school shooting range, but she'd already wasted far enough bullets, and she knew that, in the end, it would only be a temporary relief from this aching throb in her heart. Not that shredding apart dead leaves did any better for her. It was all so pointless. She couldn't begin to believe that anything would fill the hole left by her upperclassman. So many different factors rolling into one, there may as well have been an entire 300-page book written out solely to explain all of the reasons why Mirai had no chance being together with the girl she admired, the team leader Homura.

In general, Mirai was aware that she had never once entered Homura's sights in that way; the older girl was never made aware that her freshman friend harbored romantic affections toward her. The young, one-eyed ninja had let fear of rejection strike a knife to her heart, and it caused coils of barbed wire to ensnare her tongue, preventing any chance of admitting truths of love. Mirai could hold none but herself responsible for allowing that to happen. Not only that, but Homura had been smitten with Asuka for as long as anyone had seen the two first interact. They were practically meant to be, they even resembled each other in many ways. It wasn't a question of how, it was a matter of when. Now that they were together, and Mirai had even witnessed them kiss, she had finally felt the realization come crashing down around her. It was the frustration of a first love lost to another.

'I'm so pissed...' she thought. Snatching up a stone, she threw it violently at the pond, but it simply sank instead of skipping across the surface like she'd expected. Mirai wiped her face on the sleeve of her black uniform.

"Are you really going to sit here and mope all day, Mirai?"

Her head snapped up, the voice sounded like it was speaking from above her. She pulled her umbrella away and stared at the tree only about a half-dozen feet away; Haruka, her fellow classmate, was sitting on a branch. Her sultry body was eclipsed by rays of sunlight slipping in between the leaves, and she had a pert little smile on her soft lips. Mirai scowled at her.

"Please, Haruka, just leave me alone. I don't want to be groped or teased today."

"You ran off in a huff when we were messing with Homura and Asuka's date. You were not very pleased to have them kiss. Don't tell me..."

"Ugh,"

"You have a crush on Asuka?"

"No, I have a crush on Homura, and you know that! Eep! I said it!"

Haruka stuck out her tongue. "Easy as pie."

She dropped from the tree and approached her sulking friend, who was now fuming as well after being manipulated in such a easy way.

"Don't tell me you came here to make fun of me,"

"I didn't. I came here to check up on you. I was worried." Haruka spoke, and from the tone of her voice, Mirai could sense that she was speaking honestly, but then again, Haruka was an experienced ninja, so who knew how much she could fake it? Although Mirai knew Haruka had some goodness in her, so it was possible...

"Well...thanks, but I'm fine by myself right now. Maybe I'll join you guys for dinner at the cafeteria tonight, okay?"

"You don't have to feel like you're alone, Mirai, not at all." Haruka shook her head.

"I don't feel like I'm-"

"I know how you feel, because I had to give up my darling Hibari and let her be with the girl she actually loved, and even though I knew about how much they loved each other and how I wanted Hibari to be happy over everything else, there was a very dark, very troublesome part of me that wanted nothing more than to cut Yagyu's throat and keep Hibari for myself as my precious doll."

Mirai stared at her, her one eye bulging wide.

"I didn't do those things, because I knew they were inherently wrong, and because it would hurt Hibari to an extant that I don't think she'd be able to ever recover. I wanted her to be happy, and I was willing to give up my own happiness for that and I accepted it. I even helped her recently with a little problem between her and her 'Yagyu-chan'. It was hard for me, but sometimes you can't have everything and you need to be able to support the people you care about even when things happen between you two that you don't approve of. Hibari is that such person to me, and if Homura is that kind of person to you, then you shouldn't stop loving her, but accept that you can't have her."

Mirai folded her arms. "I...I knew all of that already! What's with the life lesson all of the sudden? Come on!"

Haruka removed a syringe filled with a mysterious transparent liquid from between her breasts and shoved the needle barely an inch from piercing Mirai's nose. "Take it to heart, please, my dear Mirai."

"O...okay..."

"And don't worry," Haruka giggled, suddenly squirting the liquid onto Mirai's face, "This was just water! It might hurt if I poked you with the tip of the syringe, though."

Mirai let the water trickle down her face, unmoved, her eyes squarely pinned on Haruka.

"Then...then what can I do...to really take it to heart?"

"Move on, of course."

"W-What about you and me, Haruka? We're both alone, and you understand how I feel about this, right? We get along well, don't we?" Mirai exclaimed.

Haruka brought the syringe back in again, and Mirai froze up.

"You think I'd want to be with you, just like that? Mirai, you are young and still going through puberty, but don't mistake every sexual attraction you feel as true romantic love."

"Err..."

"After all, you were moping over Homura just now, so why would you jump to someone else, to me, so quickly?"

"I...I don't know...I just thought..."

Haruka finally buried the syringe away into her deep cleavage.

"Mirai, I like you; you're very adorable, and you even remind me of Hibari a little," Haruka admitted, "But if you think you can move onto me right away, then you have another thing coming. You'd have to prove yourself first!"

"W-What...prove myself? Seriously? Why do I have to prove myself?" Mirai fumed.

"Not just to me, but for your own sake too. I'm not a woman you would be able to handle the way you are now, Mirai. I can be sadistic, masochistic, insane, cruel, unforgiving; I get a great deal of pleasure out of pain dealt to both myself and others. I'm a woman with a complicated past behind me and a complicated future ahead of me. You're young, Mirai, so you don't want to get mixed up with someone like me, not when you still have so much room to improve and grow. If you really would want to be with me, you need to show you can truly match me. But I won't hold my breath."

Mirai frowned. All of the sadness and angst that had been clouding her wretched little heart until now, it had transformed into sadness and pity for the tragic upperclassman that was currently beside her. Haruka had always been one of the more eccentric members of their little crew. With a wry smile and unreadable eyes, she would craft puppets and poisons to manipulate and torture her opponents, but she still could express exceptional kindness to her underclassmen whenever they needed it. Mirai admired her just as much as she did Homura, even calling her 'Mistress', initially out of threat, but soon she did it to express her respect. Haruka's wisdom exceeded Mirai's, and she knew she had to heed her words, even though she didn't want to accept them any more than she wanted to accept Homura's relationship with Asuka.

"Okay...fine..."

"Hmm?"

Mirai shouted in Haruka's face, "I'll prove it then! I'll prove it to you and to myself and to whoever else! I'll figure out how to make you happy too!"

"Decide if you even like me that much first, silly," Haruka solemnly smiled.

"I-I will! I will! You'll see!"

The two young women spoke nothing more on the subject, and in fact, they never did for the rest of their time as students in the evil ninja academy.

* * *

><p>Eleven years passed. Over such a long period of time, as one would expect, people changed greatly, their destinies irrevocably altered.<p>

Homura and Asuka had remained together, but because of ninja law, they were unable to marry, as such personal information being officially recognized by the country would be at risk of being obtained by potential enemies. Nonetheless, the couple continued to express their love for each other like any married couple would have, and they did not let any ancient laws or social prejudices prevent them from doing so. Upon graduation, after rising through the ranks of their perspective ninja schools of beliefs, the two women began their own school, one that was intended to combine 'good' and 'evil', to craft a ninja style formed with 'light' and 'darkness' together, and it would bring about a new breed of ninja to the fold. Whether or not they were successful in their goal was unknown, as ninja schools were secretive to the point of being nonexistent.

Ikaruga and Katsuragi also stayed together, although they still argued time and again, sometimes breaking out into altercations over questions on Katsuragi's loyalty to her lover. Despite having butt heads more times than probably necessary, Ikaruga and Katsuragi still loved each other very much, and Katsuragi proved time and again that she never had and never will have any intentions of cheating on her. Unlike their other friends, Ikaruga and Katsuragi chose, or rather were forced, to drop out of the ninja lifestyle, particularly after a rather harrowing mission that put them in disfavor with the heads of the ninja community. The two women had conducted a personal mission to rescue Katsuragi's parents and escort them safely out of the country. Undergoing such a mission without official permission was reacted to with very negative repercussions, as it broke the ninja code of secrecy and went against established rules, especially when it put revealing their identities at risk. Ikaruga, gathering as much of her family's money as she could, departed from Japan with Katsuragi and her lover's parents. They now lived generally happily in Switzerland under new names. Sometimes, Ikaruga and Asuka exchanged letters.

Yomi and Hikage had made a permanent home in the slums where Yomi was raised as a child. They had a happy, albeit poor life together, but they were never in want of anything, more than content with just each other. Yomi performed her duties as an evil ninja from time to time, but she kept herself busy as a teacher and as a cook for the slum's orphans, although it took her a little time before she could adapt to cooking something other than beansprouts. Hikage kept up the brunt of the shinobi work, performing enough missions to support both of them, even though Yomi always warned her to not push herself too hard. As they spent more time together, Hikage began to open up more and more with her emotions again, and it was on her twenty-third birthday that she finally felt like a real person again.

Hibari and Yagyu moved on from Hanzo Academy to become full-fledged ninjas. Hibari, being from a prominent ninja family, accepted her role as the heiress and the future head of the family. Yagyu joined her as her personal guardian and right-hand woman, so that they would never have to be stuck apart again. Hibari's many experiences in the academy had aided in her growth as a person and as a ninja, and she proved herself a competent opponent against her family's many rivals and enemies. Yagyu always remained vigilant in protecting her as well. When it came time to pick a suitor, Hibari fought off every single one, even threatening to drag her family's name through the mud and grime if they did not allow her to choose Yagyu as her wife. Eventually they relented, and the happy couple married only a few days later.

Haruka lived alone. Through various secret connections and more than a few instances of bribing and blackmail, the young woman had managed to hollow out a large section of Mt. Fuji, constructing inside of it her greatest laboratory yet, twenty floors in all. Every floor was layered with a number of different booby-traps, puppet guards and pitfalls, among other dangerous instruments to keep people out. Haruka had intended it this way. She wished not to be disturbed by anyone or anything in her life anymore. She was happy for all of her friends who had found happiness in their lives, especially Hibari, but she could no longer be with them like how she used to be. She had far too much research to bury herself under. Her puppets had become a major force in the ninja business, as they were suitable replacements for most flesh-and-blood soldiers, and were already in high demand by those willing to pay the steep price tag. Haruka could not disappoint her buyers.

[**_Warning! Warning! Warning! Intruder! Intruder! Intruder!_**]

Haruka, now 29, leaped from her chair, startled by the sudden announcement booming from the intercom. An intruder...Haruka could scarcely believe it. When she had designed the alarm system, it had been partly done in jest; she never believed anyone would ever be able to enter her secret lair, or even discover it in the first place, considering the entrance was buried behind a wall of boulders and it had no lock, handle or even a keypad to input a password. A cold shiver made its way down the woman's spinal cord, and she felt something else swell up inside of her, something she had not experienced for years until now, a remnant of excitement, a long-lost memory, and for some reason, it elated her. Her heart even skipped a beat. But then she realized what this could have meant in a realistic context; it could be an assassin coming to eliminate her!

Tossing her work tools aside, Haruka strode across the room toward the wall covered in television sets, where she could view out of every security camera in her lab all at once. Her jaw nearly dropped to the floor; one by one, the televisions were blinking out. She only had the chance to witness something small and black rush by, a split-second so fast she couldn't make out what exactly it was, before the camera went dead and the screen turned black. The alarms continued to blare throughout the room, echoing off of the walls, and it struck Haruka with a powerful migraine. She quickly tapped a selection of colored buttons on the panel in front of her.

"Puppet A-07! What is the report? Who is the intruder? Is it a ninja?"

She only received static. Swearing under her breath, she quickly contacted another guard.

"Puppet B-92! What is happening down there?"

"Mistress, we are under attack!" a robotic, monotone voice responded.

"Yes, I know that, but who is it? What's going on?"

"We cannot tell. All booby-traps have been successfully evaded, and more than 72% of our forces have been defeated in attempted combat with the intruder."

"That many already...? And all of the traps, even the lasers and the poison gas? Where did the intruder come from?"

"The intruder began on the first floor, and is steadily making their way upwards, it seems, Mistress! They're moving incredibly fast"

Haruka shivered again. Heading upwards...if the intruder could not be stopped, and it seems like they could not, then Haruka may soon find herself caught in a confrontation.

"Thank you, B-92. Find some place to hide; I will handle the intruder myself."

"Mistress...!"

Haruka shut off the communications device, and turned to face the lab door, which she had already expected to be blown off its hinges by this intruder already. Fortunately Haruka was already wearing her lab coat, which had been modified countless times over the past eleven years, and now the sleeves alone carried enough weaponry inside of them to take down a small army in a single fell swoop. Haruka did not know who would be so mad, or so skilled, to break into her home and smash all of her toys, but they would be allowed to get away with it with their life intact. Haruka steeled herself, hearing approaching footsteps getting steadily close on the other side of the steel doors.

An explosion followed. Haruka leaped back and ducked as blazing heat and chunks of reinforced iron went flying through the air and over her head. A lone figure stepped out from the billowing smoke, and stood before her. Haruka's eyes widened, larger and larger, until they were ready to pop from their sockets. It had been nearly ten years, but seeing her now, even though she had changed so much, Haruka instantly recognized her.

"I hope I've finally done enough to make you change your mind about me, Mistress Haruka."

The ends of Haruka's lips started to twitch, and as hot, happy tears gushed from her eyes, she let a genuine smile fully form and stretch itself from cheek to cheek.

"...It seems you really did prove a genius wrong, Mirai."


End file.
